Seems obvious right? And many people have not taken time to reflect of what/who they really are, nor do they have the courage to do so. To be clear - this is not a criticism rather an observation. What is unfortunate about this observation is that it limits our freedom and ability to make genuine connections with others.
A couple of my favorite quotes on this subject are by musician Jim Morrison. He said, "The most important freedom is to be what you really are." In the fast-paced world that we live in where we can feel like our attention, time, and energy are pulled in a million different directions - it is no wonder that often times we do not make the time to reflect on who we are or who we aspire to be. As we travel through different seasons in our lives, it is rare that we intentionally reflect. Rather we continue to go through the subconscious moments mostly on auto pilot.
From the time we wake up in the morning until the time we go to bed, our subconscious mind is doing most of the heavy lifting. While this is necessary for us to efficiently function, subconscious thought patterns that are formed during early childhood can lead to self-limiting patterns of beliefs and behaviors. Because this is happening at the subconscious level, we are typically unaware. The first step to freedom is to be aware. Become conscious and intentional.
Next is to have a crystal-clear vision of what the best version of yourself is. Who is that person. What do they feel like? What do they value? What are the habits in their life? What words describe them? What does their life look like? Then embody that. Awareness and mindset are key to being what we are and achieving personal freedom.
Finally, we have to face our fears of unworthiness that shackle us to the past. Which brings me to my next Jim Morrison quote, "Expose yourself to your deepest fear and after that fear has no power and the fear of freedom shrinks, and vanishes, you are free." We all have fears of unworthiness or not enough-ness. And those fears not only rob us of freedom, but also connection. Researcher and author Brene Brown, has explored this topic extensively and gave an incredible TED talk called "The Power of Vulnerability."
In this talk she breaks down the word courage. It is from the Latin word "cor" which means heart and the original definition of the word courage was to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. And for most people - that is terrifying. People will tell an external narrative of who they are and many times that narrative is at odds to some degree with authenticity as well as vulnerability.
When we release our fears of unworthiness and recognize that others at some points in their lives have struggled with similar challenges - we free ourselves from the idea of perfection. We can start to embrace the freedom of what/who we really are, realize our highest potential, and create genuine connections with others.
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